


Working Down There, Together

by InkRanOut



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Brief mentions of dissections, Other, Red Plague (The Arcana), Sick Character, Sickfic, gender-neutral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 01:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15131870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkRanOut/pseuds/InkRanOut
Summary: You are a doctor working alongside Julian Devorak at the palace, back at the time of the Red Plague.Things are getting worse every passing day, the bodies pile up and the working conditions at the palace are more wretched and unsafe than ever.At a time like this, nobody will spare a moment to care for a sick doctor next door...Devorak's lucky you took notice.(Gender-neutral reader, relationship can be interpreted as both romantic and platonic.)





	Working Down There, Together

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello, thank you for clicking on my fanfiction!~
> 
> As you probably have already read in the description, this fic takes place back at the time of the Red Plague. The MC (reader) is not The Apprentice™ but a doctor that worked at the palace! Surprise surprise! :D
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!~

Devorak had agreed to come over to your room so you could continue your research together, but he seemed unusually unfocused.  
No, you could even say that he was in pain.  
It wasn't hard to guess what was up.

It wasn't strange either, with those wretched working conditions, the lack of sleep, the incredibly short lunch breaks and the far from welcoming environment. You could almost smell death down there.  
The Count wanted his cure now. Your procrastination could easily cost him his life.

"Doctor Devorak, you are sick. Please rest."  
You considered placing a hand on his shoulder, but decided against it.  
You two barely knew each other, and although you were on the same level in occupation, you couldn't help but admire him the way you admire a superior.  
He was truly admirable. He worked so hard, that even Doctor Valdemar had trouble keeping up with his research.

"Nonsense. I'm feeling just fine." Devorak waved his hand in dismissal, almost like he was avoiding the conversation.  
"I will take over your research for tonight. Please return to your room and sleep for a while." you uttered gently, this time taking his arm and attempting to lead him towards the door, but he wouldn't move.  
The doctor released a soft chuckle. "No need... I'll continue a bit more."

You crossed your arms and glared at Devorak; he looked as if he could barely stand, let alone immerse himself in more of those confusing books that gave even you headaches.  
"Doctor. Doctor number 069. You have to return." You tried getting him to his feet, but this time he showed very little resistance, as if he was already exhausted.  
"Can you walk?"  
Devorak coughed. "But of course..."

Luckily, it appeared to be just a mere cold, but you wanted to be sure. You knew doctors who had thought just the same and some were already dead by now.

Devorak, seemingly confused and unfocused now, was willing to give you the keys to his room right away when you asked.  
You unlocked and unbarred the wooden door, preparing to go inside, when you felt cold fingers close on your shoulder.

"Now, what do we have here?"  
You turned your head to find Doctor Valdemar standing behind you, grinning widely.  
"A- Ah, Doctor Valdemar. You startled me."  
Valdemar took away their hand from your shoulder and brought their face closer to yours, examining you both carefully. "Is something wrong with doctor number 069?"  
"Ju- Just a mere cold." You tried to return the smile, but the nervousness was obvious in your voice. "You're not getting inside his skull tonight– or any time soon, for that matter."  
"That's too bad." Valdemar tilted their head. "Well then."

Watching them walk away, you released a deep sigh you didn't know you were holding.  
Valdemar seemed to have taken a liking to Devorak, but that wasn't exactly good for him.  
In fact, instead of wanting to get to know him, Valdemar was more interested in getting to know what's inside him.  
They were really looking forward to dissecting him if he ever caught the plague.  
But for some reason, you just didn't want to let that happen, no matter what.  
You disliked having to dissect people, especially your fellow doctors, but for some reason it was somehow different with Devorak. You didn't even want to think of it happening to him.

Devorak didn't comment on your short conversation with Valdemar, although it took place right in front of him, which was quite unlike him.  
He was the kind to comment on everything, talked a lot and sometimes even made jokes, no matter what the situation was.  
He was the only one who could still laugh. He and Valdemar, and maybe a few others, to be exact. But for Devorak it wasn't in a bad way, like the rest. His intentions weren't bad, he truly wanted to make everyone laugh, lighten the mood.

You looked at him, confirming your suspicions; he was already half-asleep in your arms, barely standing.  
He probably hadn't heard a thing you or Valdemar had said.

You hurried to open the door of his room and led him to the cot in the corner. It was slightly small for the tall doctor, but everyone had to manage with what they were given; including you.

Once your hands were free and Devorak could finally rest properly (or at least, as properly as possible on that tiny cot), you had a look around the room.

It was small and cramped just like yours, but somehow far less depressing. Doctor Devorak's room felt somehow... warm. Kind of dark, it surely wasn't as lit as yours, but still welcoming.  
Almost... homey, one could say.  
As if the doctor really made the most of the little he had been given for his stay at the palace.  
While you... although not ungrateful, you just couldn't relax in your own room - or anywhere else down there.  
It was nice to feel this calm again, for the first time in a long while.

"Doctor [Y/N], was it?"  
You were suprised to hear Devorak's barely audible whisper, and you could tell he was still barely conscious.  
"Thank you..." The doctor coughed. "But you really shouldn't be wasting time on me... I'll be fine so... you can just return...."  
You placed a hand on his forehead, obviously surprising him. "You're burning up. I can't just leave you like this, especially when I'm a doctor."

You pushed locks of hair out of his face, noticing his cheeks had turned completely red, and he was biting his lower lip.  
For a moment you wondered whether it was because he was sick, or if there was a... different reason. However, you quickly cast those thoughts aside, as you had more urgent problems right now.

The lack of medicine, for example.  
Which was extremely ironic, if you think that you were there with all the doctors of Vesuvia and even some from other places, and yet there was no medicine to be found in the whole palace.  
You weren't curing a cold, after all. Although those doctors were looking for a cure for the plague, the research that took place was slightly more... extreme.  
Even Devorak had given up on trying to find a cure in the form of medicine. In fact, you'd heard something about leeches.

Meanwhile, your own research was on poisonous plants.  
Studying poison would help cure poison, which you believed to be the source of the plague.  
Other doctors' research focused on consumables, water, even gas. Well, not much progress had been made on the last one, but everyone was free to research whatever they thought might be useful, Count Lucio himself had given you the freedom on that one.

"What a cutie..." Devorak muttered.  
"Doctor Devorak, you seem a bit out of it. You'd better get some sleep."  
"Now, now, no need for silly formalities with me... it's Julian."  
You sighed. "Doctor, Doctor Julian. Sleep."  
Still awfully warm, with high fever and a flushed face, Devorak somehow still managed to give you a sexy look and winked in a flirty manner.  
"I will, but only because it's you asking."

You finally allowed yourself to smile, somewhat relieved. "Good. I will pass by again later to see how you are doing. Oh, is it okay if I keep your keys for now, Doctor Jules?"  
"J- Jules?"  
Your face turned red. "Wha- That, that- I'm sorry, I got carried away! Doctor Julian."  
Devorak chuckled. "It's okay, I don't mind."

You left the room somewhat embarrassed, making sure to lock. For some reason, seeing Devorak appear vulnerable like this made you feel the need to protect him.  
You wouldn't want anyone to go in there without your permission. Especially certain people like Valdemar.

Your room was just as you left it, except this time loneliness was added to the emotions that seemed to overflow every time you stared at that empty desk.  
Devorak had come over just once, and the room already felt empty without him and his lame jokes that always dropped hints of his somewhat masochistic tendencies, as if he used to live here until just now.

You'd promised not to get close to anybody down there, where anyone could die just any moment, and that was solely to keep yourself from getting hurt, but what was a little promise that had never been spoken out loud against those feelings?

You had to decided to protect him yourself, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure there was an ask on The Arcana Devs' official tumblr account that said something about 1) Julian hating the nickname 'Jules' and 2) the person who gave him that nickname having passed away long ago.
> 
> Yup, I just angsted this fanfiction in a matter of split seconds. You are welcome.
> 
> Anyway, for some reason that ask seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Dunno, maybe I imagined it? :P
> 
> In case that post did exist and it just somehow disappeared suddenly when I happened to need it, this fic is bound to get jossed in the future, but doesn't matter! I'm always so into writing canon that my fanfictions never get jossed, it would be nice for a lil change.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my fic, please do tell me your thoughts, comments are so lovely to read~
> 
> Have a good day! ^^
> 
>  
> 
> \---
> 
> Edit: I found the post about Julian's nickname! Have a look, if you'd like: http://thearcanagame.tumblr.com/post/156149938954
> 
> By the way, I think the person who gave Julian the nickname 'Jules' was actually Lucio (he called him that in canon when he was alive) and that's probably why he dislikes it, but as I said, this fic is open to jossing and in my AU it was given to him by this fic's Doctor!Reader!MC. Peace.


End file.
